


Rest in Peace

by chaoticamanda



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's, Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Gen, Ghosts, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, Tragedy, Video Game AU, fnaf au, fnaf lore, horror game au, some gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-16
Updated: 2015-06-16
Packaged: 2018-04-04 17:45:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4147017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoticamanda/pseuds/chaoticamanda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was boredom that caused Jack Pattillo to apply for the job at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, and it is the echoes of children that once were that make him want to quit it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rest in Peace

“Have a good night, hun,” Caiti called after Jack as he walked out their front door, gripping the piece of paper with the messily scrawled address of his new workplace. The pay wasn’t much, but he was sick of sitting home all the time while Caiti worked at the firm. A man named Jeremy had called him two days ago to enthusiastically bestow upon on Jack the night guard position.

Jack would be protecting the assets of an old kid’s restaurant, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. He’d only been there once as a child, and had never gone again after being unsettled by the animatronics. Jack figured he’d be able to stand them now, and so he pushed the door to the dark restaurant open.

Jeremy had given him directions to his new office and told him that he’d call him with some tips once Jack had time to settle in. Jack grimaced at the condition the place was in, wondering how kids could love a place like this. He supposed their fruitful imaginations created a different image than the one he saw. At least he would have a nice, easy night clicking through cameras. He couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to break into this shithole.

The phone rang just as he was booting up the laptop, making him jump. Jack laughed at himself , pressing the green button.

 

“Good job today, guys.” A young boy around the age of twelve looked around at his friends, or his family, to be more honest. Lindsay, a ten year old girl, and Michael, a ten year old boy, were standing next to him on stage, and they could all hear Gavin noisily running down the hall towards them. The three of them stepped down to meet him.

“They loved us!” he cried, his sandy blonde hair flopping in his eyes. “They loved me the most, as always! They’ve missed me.”

“Can it,” Michael flexed his arms, wiggling his fingers. He was sore from standing the whole day. “You’re lucky you get to go around without getting in trouble, especially after what you did last time.”

Lindsay was rubbing her stomach, ignoring the boys’ conversation, “Oh, I could smell the pizza _all_ day! It was so hard not to just run off stage.”

The oldest of them, Ryan, shook his head, “You know they’d put you in the back if they did that.”

“I know,” she frowned, her dark red hair falling into her face, “I just miss it so much.”

“We all do,” Ryan replied quietly, looking down.

“I never really--” Michael was interrupted by Gavin, who had begun to flail his arms, his expression that of alarm.

“Do you hear that? Guys!” He exclaimed, jerking his head toward the entrance. The four of them strained to listen for any sound, tense and apprehensive.

“Footsteps,” Lindsay whispered fearfully, grabbing Michael’s arm. He could not hide the fear in his own eyes.

“No one should be here!” Gavin hissed, “Unless it’s--”

“It’s not,” Ryan said forcefully, narrowing his eyes. “Just...just get back into position, okay? We don’t want to get in trouble.”

After a nod from Michael, Gavin slowly returned to his own stage, closing his curtain tight so that nobody could see him. Ryan, Michael, and Lindsay retreated back onto the main stage, trying to hold perfectly still. It was easy for Ryan, but Lindsay was so scared that she was beginning to shake. Michael held her hand discreetly to calm her. He knew her fear--they all did, and he also knew it wasn’t able to be stopped.

“Who do you think it is, Ryan?” Michael whispered out of the corner of his mouth, “A kid?”

“No. Kids wouldn’t come here without their parents.”

“I did,” Michael muttered, but he didn’t receive a reply. Their eyes were drawn to the corner of the room when a camera clicked to life. It did a sweep of the room and then clicked off after a moment. A similar click was heard in the next room over.

“The security office,” Ryan breathed. They looked at each other.

“I’m going to see who it is,” Michael took a deep breath and stepped off the stage, ignoring Ryan’s protests. “They can’t hurt me.”

 

Jeremy, it turned out, had recorded a message for Jack, and it had left Jack with an eerie feeling. The man had been nothing but cheerful, but some of his phrases were...creepy, to say the least. He’d kept talking about liabilities and rumors…

Jack shook it off, using his track pad to click through the cameras like Jeremy had told him to. There weren’t many rooms, and many were empty. One of the cameras was broken, but it could still pick up audio. He settled in for a night of clicking and boring the hell out of himself. Jack’s shift lasted until six in the morning, and it was only one in the morning.

There was a room where the three main animatronics were staged, and he had to admit they still did creep him out. They had eerily human qualities, and he was just glad their jerky animations that kids loved so much weren’t playing at night.

Jack made a few rotations through the rooms, barely looking at the screen. When he did focus again, he realized that the animatronic known as Bonnie the Bunny was missing from the stage. There was no way someone would have stolen such a thing, but Jack had no other explanation. He frantically clicked through the cameras and froze when he saw the bunny in the hallway that led to the security office. It wasn’t moving, but he had no idea how or why it had gotten there. The camera began to become static and covered the screen. Jack hit the laptop, “Come on, come on!”

The picture returned after a moment, and Jack felt his heart in his chest. Bonnie was gone.

Jack could hear a clunking sound getting closer to him and his finger twitched toward the switch to close and lock the door. In a blink, a giant robotic rabbit was standing in the doorway, a permanent smile etched on it’s face. Jack slammed the door closed, breathing heavily. Outside was silent, and he reluctantly returned to his laptop.

“What the hell is going on?” He muttered to himself, returning to the room with the main stage. He blinked. The rabbit looked like it had never moved at all, and was perched next to his friends on stage. For the rest of the night, Bonnie, nor any of the other machines, moved, and it left Jack wondering if he had imagined the whole thing.

 

When Jack finally got home in the morning and crashed into his bed, he had one of the strangest dreams he imagined anyone could have. He was in the pizzeria, but it was completely empty of animatronics or furniture. “Give the gift of life” was written over and over again on the peeling walls, and a large gift box was on the other side of room. Jack walked up to it and slowly opened it. Inside the box were four masks with the same faces as the animatronics. When Jack looked up, he was staring into a mirror. He was not himself. The man in the mirror had black hair and a handlebar mustache, and he was wearing a black suit.

Jack woke with a start, and attempted to shake the dream off before he went back to work.

“Well, he had a beard...I think. He closed the door too quick,” Michael was telling Lindsay about his encounter the night before, and she was listening with wide eyes. Ryan was giving them both disapproving looks.

“Michael, you could have gotten in a lot of trouble.”

“But I didn’t,” he grinned toothily.

“I wanna see him!” Gavin insisted, almost pleading to Ryan. He’d spent last night hiding behind his curtain, terrified that...He had come back.

“No, you don’t. What if he’s bad?” Ryan was trying to reason with them, to convince them not to play games like this.

“Well...Jeremy wasn’t so bad, was he?” Lindsay murmured, playing with the ends of her hair. “He’s not scared of us. He likes to play.”

“Lindsay, we...this guy isn’t Jeremy. He could be...you know who he could be. We have no way of knowing who he is.” Ryan was losing hope that he could convince the others.

“Yes we do!” Gavin cried, bouncing on his feet, “We could ask Ray to visit him!”

The others were silent at this, and Ryan met Gavin’s eyes. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Well, why not?”

“He...He’s new, Gav. He barely talks to us, you know that. He’s not like us,” Michael said sadly, “Geoff couldn’t make him like us.”

“Well, what about Geoff then? He could tell us!” Gavin refused to give up.

“Geoff hasn’t visited us in such a long time,” Lindsay sighed, “He can’t help us now.”

“Well…” Gavin puffed up his chest, “Then I’m going to find out more!”

 

Jack had taken his best friend’s advice, bringing the gameboy his nephew had bought him for his birthday along to work. He couldn’t shake the dream he’d had, or the bunny that showed up the night before, and as he sat down in his chair, his hair was already on end.

The computer made it’s usual booting up sound and flickered to life. Everything seemed to be normal, so Jack clicked it to the camera that showed the main stage and opened up his gameboy. He couldn’t deny that he was still scared, but he began to immerse himself in the game. Eventually he looked back at the screen and began to click through the rooms again. Everything was peaceful until he got to the area labeled “Pirate’s Cove”. The curtain that hid the stage was stuck half open where it had previously been closed.

The static from the camera feed began to blur the screen, and when it cleared again, the curtain was fully open. A chill rippling down his spine, Jack frantically clicked to different cameras until he landed on a hallway that led to his office. An animatronic was _running_ down it.

Terrified, Jack leapt out of his chair and slammed the doors shut, his heart racing. He could hear a clanking sound, and then the thing began to bang on the door. Something that sounded like a metal clamp opening and closing was making noises on the other side of the door, and though he was completely filled to the brim with fear, he could have sworn he heard a faint boy’s voice calling, “Come on! Lemme in!”

After a few minutes the banging stopped, and Jack clung to his laptop to watch the animatronic walk away jerkily. It didn’t immediately return to it’s place, but went instead to the main stage. The metal fox stopped in front of the stage where the other three animatronics rested. Bonnie and Chica, the rabbit and chicken, began to bob their heads. Freddy, however, seemed to be standing rigidly, and another chill was sent down Jack’s spine when the bear’s eyes shifted directly to the camera.

He fumbled around for his small flip phone and scrolled through his recent calls. It was almost four AM, but Jack’s heart was beating too hard for him to care.

“H--Hello?” A man answered the call and he sounded sleepy and disoriented.

“Jeremy? Jeremy Dooley?” Jack demanded, watching as the animatronics began to move their arms and torsos. Freddy continued to stare at the camera.

“Yes, yes, hello?” The man seemed more collected, “Is everything alright?”

“It’s Jack. Jack Pattillo. Your new, sorry _former_ night guard. What the fuck man?” Jack was beginning to hyperventilate, “I didn’t sign up to be terrorized by robots!”

Instead of asking what the hell he was talking about, Jeremy only sighed and muttered, “I should have known,” and then louder, “Look, I understand you’re probably very afraid and probably very confused. I just...we really need you. Please, just try and finish the week? I’ll explain everything.”

 

“Gavin, get out here!” Ryan yelled, his hands on his hips. All three of them were standing in front of Gavin’s stage, waiting for him to emerge from behind his curtain.

“For God’s sake Ryan, what?” Gavin moaned, slinking out from behind his curtain. He wouldn’t meet Ryan’s eyes.

“You probably got us all in trouble, pulling that stupid stunt!” Ryan was angry, and Lindsay backed away from him. She hated yelling, even back when she had since she had been…alive. It had been such a long time ago, but it had always made her cry.

“Calm down, we’ll be fine,” Gavin rolled his eyes, “Why aren’t you mad at Michael? He visited the dumb guy too!”

“Michael didn’t bang on the door! Michael got back to his place as quick as he could! You came to talk to us! We’re definitely going to be in trouble--” Ryan’s shouting was cut off by Lindsay.

“Stop yelling!” She cried, her young face drawn, “Just stop!”

Michael stepped between the stage and Ryan, “You know it isn’t good when we get angry.”

The four of them were silent for a moment, staring at each other. Ryan knew what could happen, and Gavin especially knew. He took a deep breath even though had long stopped breathing.

“Well, well, well, have you kiddies been behaving?” A voice rang out from behind them, and all but Lindsay froze. The little girl launched herself at the man, laughing. She would know the voice anywhere.

“Geoff! You’re back!” Gavin finally stepped off the stage, brushing past Ryan.

“Yeah, yeah,” Geoff smiled, adjusting his bow tie, “You miss me?”

Ryan hung back as the others tittered around Geoff. The others hadn’t known him as long, and perhaps hadn’t yet made the connection that his visits were always followed by bad news. Geoff had picked Ryan up, his soul broken and bloody, and breathed life back into him. He’d left Ryan after that, and only returned each time with a new soul just as broken as Ryan’s had been. Geoff had brought Ryan friends...or depending on how you looked at it, family four times now. His last visit had been eight years ago-- Ryan had been counting.

“Why the long face, Ryan?” Geoff stepped towards him, his eyebrows furrowing in concern.

Michael and Lindsay watched Ryan as well, not understanding his lack of excitement.

“I’m just wondering if you...brought any new friends. Like last time,” _And the time before that, and the time before that._

Geoff’s face hardened, “No. No new friends. I just...I wanted to see how you all are.” He looked around and furrowed his brows, “Where’s Ray?”

“We don’t know,” Lindsay murmured sadly, looking down.

“He won’t come out and play,” Gavin added with a sigh. He’d tried many times to get Ray to play with them, to at least to talk at all.

“Well, maybe I can get him to come out,” Geoff muttered, stepping down the dark hallway toward the bathroom.

 

“Thanks for coming,” Jeremy stood to shake Jack’s hand, but the other man just glared at him. “I know you must have a lot of questions, and I’ll answer them all to the best of my ability.”

“What the hell is going on? Aren’t animatronics supposed to be controllable? How the hell are they banging on my door?” Jack sat down roughly.

“I...I guess I should start at the beginning,” Jeremy took a deep breath. “I’ve been working with these characters for a very long time, Jack. There...there was someone who worked with me, who...who I thought was my friend. His name was Matt Bragg. I was part of management, but I helped wherever I was needed. Matt was the guard on the day shift. The kids….they loved the place, and the characters. I guess...well, anyway, a kid went missing. His name was Ryan Haywood and he was twelve years old,, and the last place anyone saw him was at our restaurant. I was so concerned for the kids, that somehow a predator had come in, or had been lurking outside that we shut the place down for a week. The kid was never found, and we reopened, but Matt had strict instructions to keep his eyes peeled.

“Nothing else bad happened except for minor accidents that were expected. One of the night guards we were using quit because he claimed that the Freddy character moved at night and it freaked him out. I took the night shift after that. It was all good for two years, and then a little girl disappeared. Her name was Lindsay Tuggey, and she was attending a birthday party for other ten-year olds. They didn’t find her body either, and people were beginning to steer clear of the restaurant, worried for their kids safety. Things died down again, and the two disappearances were written off as freak accidents. Another year later, another disappearance. I moved off of the night shift after Michael Jones’s disappearance, even though he had been seen on camera being picked up by his parents. They figured...I don't know, there was a lot of rumors about someone bringing him back. I was so concerned for the kids…

“Whoever was taking the children was sneaky, because Matt said he never saw anything. But _I_ began to see things. Bonnie, Freddy, Chica-- they were acting odd. Two years later and another boy gone. People must’ve wanted to ignore the numbers adding up, because parties were still being scheduled. The same day that Ray Narvaez Jr. was reported missing was the day after Matt went on the run. I got the night guard at the time to cover Matt’s shift, but...his name was Kdin. The Foxy animatronic had gone berserk and...and _bit_ him. I guess...I think it thought that Kdin was Matt…” Jeremy trailed off, looking at something that Jack couldn’t see.

“The pizzeria closed and the animatronics were moved into an offsite storage facility. Well, almost all of them. We destroyed a Golden Freddy, one we used as a backup. It was part of the wearable line that had been employed. Matt...he’d taken a suit and, he--” Jeremy was choking up, “--he lured them back there. The other wearable suit...we debated throwing that out too, but it’s in the back at our new location. I just...it was horrible.”

“What does this...this fucking tragedy have to do with robots trying to kill me? I never did anything to them!” Jack was feeling sick, but he wasn’t mollified yet.

“They’re not after you,” Jeremy looked away, “They’re probably just scared.”

 _“Scared?_   They’re robots!”

“Do you believe in ghosts, Jack?”

“This is bullshit,” Jack spat, leaning back in his chair. Ghosts? Robots? Dead kids? None of this was making sense.

“Look, I’ve seen those animatronics, Jack. You have too. That’s not how they work, and we both know it. _Something_ is inside of them.” Jeremy sighed, looking down at the table between them, “I can’t convince you of something you’re not going to believe. Just...finish out the week, please? I need your help.”

“Why should I stay?”

“I’ll-- I’ll talk to them. They won’t bother you, okay? Please.”

Jack sighed, pushing away from the table. “Fine.”

 

“Ray? Ray, it’s me, Geoff.” Geoff phased through a wall, peeking into the bathroom stalls. He had found Ray’s body broken and mangled in the back room, stuffed into a crawlspace that had been hidden behind a row of masks, so that's where he searched next. The small boy was sitting on the table designated for doing repairs for the animatronics, staring at nothing. “Hey buddy,” Geoff said softly.

Ray did not answer.

“How are you doing? The other kids said you wouldn’t play with them.”

Still no answer.

“Do you want something Ray?”

The boy looked up at him, his face stained with tears. “I want to go home now.”

Geoff sighed and knealed next to Ray, “You...this is your home now, Ray. The others, they’re your family now. You are all bonded by the same thing.”

The boy was silent again, and Geoff was beginning to lose hope. Finally the boy looked at Geoff again. “I want what that guy has.”

“Huh?”

 

The two men walked into the empty pizzeria half an hour before Jack’s shift began. Jack’s hair began to prickle as they neared the main stage and the animatronics were missing once again. Jeremy looked a little apprehensive as well, but recommended they find the animatronics. The two of them were cutting through the dining hall when they both stopped at the sound of voices.

They were all...childlike, but Jack thought the voices were twinged with some mechanical sound, like the sound that hydraulics made when working. The voices didn’t sound all that real either, more like echoes of something that had long since gone.

There was a louder, more adult voice that seemed to concern Jeremy, and the man started forward again with knit brows. “What the fuck are you doing?” Jack hissed, fear rooting him to the spot.

“It’s after-hours, Jack. Someone could be intruding,” was all Jeremy offered before heading to the next room-- Pirate’s Cove. Jack followed him with a huff, his skin crawling.

The room was dark, and Jack realized that a man with sallow skin was blocking their way. staring at them with menacing black eyes. “I know you!” Jack blurted.

“You know me?” The man’s voice sounded like the screeching of tires seconds before an accident, the swish of the guillotine being released, the cocking of a gun.

Jack swallowed his fear and murmured, “You were in my dream.” Quieter, he muttered to himself, “Give the gift of life.”

“What did you say?” The man’s eyes widened, and Jack’s stomach flipped. Jeremy pushed his way in front of Jack.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” Jeremy shouted at the man, trying to peer around to find the animatronics. “What did you do with the animatronics?”

Before the man could answer, a small voice rang out from behind Geoff, “J-Jeremy?”

“Lindsay, shush!” another voice hissed, and Jack felt his heart skip a beat.

Geoff peered down at Jeremy, and Jack thought that he his skin was so pale that he practically glowed in the dark. He’d never seen anything like this, and to be honest, he’d never wanted to. “What do you want with them?”

Jeremy, seeing that the man wasn’t going to answer his questions, glared at Geoff, “I just need to talk to them, whoever you are.”

Something, or someone, pulled at the back of Geoff’s suit, and he turned. Jack caught a glimpse of four children huddled behind the man, and his heart practically stopped. They were shimmering, and if Jack looked out of the corner of his eye, he could see animatronics in their place. He was going to throw up.

“What, Ray?” Geoff asked softly, and his voice was different. It was the soft ebb and flow of water, the creak of an over-used couch, the soft shower of rain against pavement.

“The thing,” a new voice said softly, and the boy’s image was the clearest of any of them.

“Just wait,” Geoff murmured back. He turned back to the men and said in a steely voice, “Speak.”

Jeremy took a deep breath and did his best to face the children...ghosts..animatronics. “Guys, I’d like to introduce you to Mr. Jack Pattillo. He...these past few nights you guys have been scaring him, and you know we have to be nice here at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. I promised him I’d talk to you-- let you know that he will _not_ hurt you. Okay?”

Jack was still trying to wrap his head around the animatronics being the souls of dead kids to listen very close to Jeremy. He jumped when a tiny, ashen face popped into view before him. Geoff had referred to him as Ray. “Uh...h-hi.”

Ray tilted his head, and Jack was reminded of an owl. He almost laughed through his fear, remembering that Caiti had told him once that owls were omens of death. Everyone was quiet as they waited for Ray to make a move. “Can I see your gameboy?” Ray whispered, his voice echoing around the room. Jack noticed that the other kids looked surprised to hear the young boys voice.

“Uh...sure, I guess,” Jack dug into his bag, and presented the silver square to the young boy. “Can...can you hold it?” He wasn’t sure if it was rude to ask a ghost, but he saw the little girl and the little boy with spiky hair look at each other with wide eyes. They all seemed to be waiting with baited breath.

Ray reached out with pale fingers, and grasped the gameboy in his small hand. Everyone was silent, and Jack watched with a pounding heart as the boy gazed at it.

Ray’s lips stretched across his face in a wide smile, and Jack thought that the boy looked more...alive. Geoff was looking down at Ray affectionately, and when he looked back to Jack, his voice was something he hadn’t before-- like glass shattering, but friends laughing about it; the good _and_ the bad of life _._ “They won’t hurt you, and you won’t hurt them.”

“Of course not!” Jack exclaimed, and Jeremy put his hand on Jack’s shoulder.

“We should let them be, your shift starts soon.”

Jack turned to walk back with Jeremy, but he paused and waved to the kids, “Enjoy the gameboy.”

 

The following two nights were fine, and Jack watched as the animatronics would gather together, and then go back to their respected places when it was time to. He wondered about them, but mostly he wondered where the fifth child was. There were only four animatronics, and Jack saw neither hide nor hair of a fifth. As soon as the man called Geoff had disappeared, Jack no longer saw the shimmery shadows of children that had been, only strong hunks of metal.

“Do you have any other games for this?"

Jack clutched his breast as he shouted, terrified of the little boy who had popped up next to him. _"Jesus_ , kid!"

"I-I'm sorry!" The boy began to fade, seeming to retreat into himself. Jack shot forward in his seat, reaching out to the boy.

“No, no, stay! You just...scared me is all,” Jack’s hand stopped just short of Ray’s flickering shoulder. “What did you ask?”

“The boy was practically silent, unsure now, “Do...do you have any other games?”

“Uh…” Jack dug around in his bag, his fingers searching for the small rectangle, “Just Adventure Island. Here,” he passed it to Ray, his heart quickening when the rectangle dropped into the boy’s hand. He kept expecting it to fall right through.

“I, uh, I had to rage quit that one, I think,” Jack laughed, scratching his beard nervously.

“Rage quit?” The boy looked confused, and he sat on the counter, facing Jack. Jack relaxed and elaborated.

“It’s when...when you get too mad and have to stop playing,” Jack laughed, recalling his friend Burnie snapping his own system in half once.

“Oh,” Ray looked down, his dark hair falling into his face. “We can’t get angry.”

“Huh?” Jack tilted his head, glancing at the camera. It was fixed on the main stage where the other children were.

“It makes...we can’t help ourselves.” Jack noticed that Ray was looking at the screen too. “We get...not nice.”

Jack sat back, a sadness filling him that caused him to let out a shaky breath, “I think you guys are great.”

Ray looked up, his eyes sparkling with pleasure the way young kids often do at praise, “Really?”

“Yeah,” Jack smiled sadly at the boy, wondering where his parents were. Were they still mourning their little boy? Jeremy had said that the last murder had happened eight years ago, making Ray just around sixteen. Jack felt tears welling in his eyes.

He glanced at the screen for a distraction, and saw that the animatronics had shifted. Freddy was standing with his back to the others in a defensive stance. When Jack looked back to Ray, he looked terrified. “What’s wrong? What’s happening?”

“He’s here.” Ray was gone before the words even left his mouth, and Jack was out of his chair in the next second. He grabbed the baton he’d been issued and emerged from his office, heading for the main stage.

The closer he got, the louder Gavin’s terrified voice became-- only now it echoed mechanically. “I can’t-- Ryan, let’s go-- we can hide--”

“Go!” Ryan bellowed, “Run now, I won’t let him get you!”

“R-Ryan?” Jack called out, unsure. The large bear snapped it’s head to Jack’s, striking fear into the man’s heart.

“Jack!” Lindsay cried out, “Don’t let him hurt us! Please!”

“Who? What’s going on?” Jack moved forward, wary of Ryan. He heard the sound of something clanging against pipes. Someone else was here alright.

“Just go!” Ryan ushered the others away, “Go hide!”

“No!” Michael insisted, “We’re not leaving you. We’re family!”

Jack turned away from them and towards the noise. It was steadily growing closer, and it was his job to protect this place. He started down the hallway, ignoring the cries from Lindsay and Gavin. “Hello? Who’s there?”

The clanging stopped and then Jack heard a man begin to laugh. “They still have night guards?”

“Who’s there? You’re intruding,” Jack called back, his heart pounding. Now there was the sound of something sliding against the ground, and a tall, lanky man came into view, an axe hanging loosely from his hand.

“I’m just trying to finish what I started, don’t worry,” The man assured Jack, “Just here to do what I’m supposed to.”

Jack began to back up as the man got closer, “Sir, please drop the weapon.”

“What are you gonna do-- beat me with a stick?” The man kept coming, and Jack kept backing up. He didn’t realize that something was coming towards them until he was knocked out of the way by a hunk of metal. It was Ryan, running full speed at the man.

The man seemed ready for the animatronic, like he was expecting it. He raised the axe, bellowing, “You think I haven’t fought enough of you in my dreams? I came to finish the work that I began!” The man was laughing as he buried the axe in Bonnie’s shoulder, causing a wicked screech to emit from the animatronic. Jack could hear the boy screaming as well, and rushed at the man. “Get away!”

“You can’t stop me!” he laughed, “They couldn’t stop me, and you can’t either!” Jack understood now who the man was.

He was near the main stage area again, and all of the other animatronics were there still, waiting. Jack could see that they were all holding hands when he glanced back. Ryan had slumped over, as if deactivated. He didn't have time to dodge the man who rushed him-- Matt. Jack fell to the ground in a heap, his air coming out in a whoosh as the axe handle found purchase in his stomach. Matt kicked Jack in the leg, causing him to cry out and roll over. His heart was pounding and his breath was coming in short bursts

Matt had a bloodthirsty glint in his eyes, and he turned to other animatronics with a predatory grin, "I know you're in there. This ends tonight, kiddies."

Michael let go of Lindsay's hand and rushed forward, roaring. His body had been small before, but deep down he knew that that body was gone, no matter what he saw now. His large, purple arm swung at Matt wildly, angrily, and knocked the man backwards.

Matt was only down for a second before he rose with renewed vigor. He ran at Michael and jumped, bringing the axe down on Michael's raised arms. The boy screamed as the axe left gashes in the metal. Jack covered his ears, terrified. He could barely breathe, and something told him that he would not make it out of this place alive. Gavin, the only animatronic he’d ever seen actually run before, was clanking heavily towards Matt, but his terror caused him to pause, giving Matt the opportunity to drive the handle through the robot’s left eye socket. Gavin crumpled, sobbing as he clutched at his face.

Matt stepped around Michael's quivering body, heading towards Lindsay. She was crying for her friends, and for the fear she felt now and for the fear she had felt all of those years ago. Jack could see her former self flickering between the new.

"Get away from them!" A voice shouted from the hallway, drawing all of their attention. It was Ray, and the gameboy was clutched in one of his shaking hands.

Matt turned towards Ray, and Jack felt another strike of fear as he caught the maliciousness on Matt's face. "I was wondering where you were, baby boy."

"Don't call me that!" Ray shouted, his other fist clenching, "You don't know anything!"

"I know I'm going to kill you," Matt laughed, a high shrieking sound, "I'm going to have just as much fun as I did the first time."

"You can't hurt me," Ray snarled, and Jack remembered what Ray had told them about being angry. "But I can hurt _you!"_

Ray disappeared and reappeared suddenly in front of Matt, and wrapped his small hand around the man's wrist. Jack watched as Matt began to scream, and his flesh glowed where Ray touched it. "You can't hurt my friends! My _family!_ Not anymore! I won't _let_ you!"

Ray released the man's wrist, and Matt swiped at him quickly, but his hand went right through Ray. Ray slapped his palm on Matt's forehead and looked like he was concentrating hard, his eyes beginning to glow a brilliant gold color. Jack started to scream with everyone else, watching as Matt’s eyes bugged out of his head and blood began to pour from his nose. Ray did not let up this time, and instead, he curled his fingers in, sinking them into the man’s head. Matt was screaming for his life, drowning out most of the others.

In one swift second, it was over, and Matt fell away from Ray, his body dropping heavily onto the floor. The silence that was left behind held the ghosts of all the children’s last breaths, their shuddering gasps falling over them all in the present as if it were happening in real time.

Jack stood shakily, trying his hardest not to vomit. Ryan and Gavin appeared in front of him, although the animatronics were still in the place they had fallen. Then Lindsay, and Michael, and finally Ray. They all faced Jack, holding hands once more. Jack could see them clearly now; there was no more flickering-- instead there was only a soft glow emanating from their skin.

“It’s over,” Lindsay breathed, smiling wide.

“We’re free,” Gavin began to giggle.

“What now?” Michael turned to Ryan.

“We go home,” the boy answered, nodding to something that Jack couldn’t see.

“Where we belong,” Ray said softly, his voice still tiny and quiet, but more firm.

Jack felt the tears burning behind his eyes, and he didn’t try to stop them. He opened his mouth, but he couldn’t bring himself to intrude on something like this. A deep sadness settled within him, but there was also relief.

“Thank you, Jack,” Ray looked him in the eyes, and Jack would never forget the look for as long as he lived. Ray held out the gameboy to Jack, but Jack shook his head.

“You keep it,” he choked out, “please.”

“Goodbye,” they all sang in unison, glowing more intensely than before. They kept getting brighter and brighter until they were suddenly gone. Jack’s eyes still showed him the bright outline of where they had been-- if they had been at all.

Tiredly, he fell back to the wall and slid down it, a fatigue settling over him. His eyes refused to stay open, and he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

There were no bad dreams.

**Author's Note:**

> I began this after FNAF3 had been out for a little bit, and most people had gotten the lore pretty much straightened out. It was interesting and so sad that I wanted to write it. This does not follow the exact FNAF timeline and is not meant to. If there is any confusion:  
> Geoff Ramsey | The Marrionette  
> Jack Pattillo | Night Guard  
> Jeremy Dooley | Phone Guy  
> Matt Bragg | Purple Guy  
> Kdin Jenzen | Night Guard from FNAF2  
> Lindsay Jones | Chica  
> Ryan Haywood | Freddy  
> Michael Jones | Bonnie  
> Ray Narvaez Jr. | Golden Freddy  
> Gavin Free | Foxy


End file.
